1997 Benefit Changes a. The Disability Income Offset provision is eliminated. There will be no reduction of retirement benefits if the retiree has other income.
b. A five-year purchase of service credit provision is established effective January 1, 1997. Under this provision, the eligible members may purchase up to five years of service credit by paying both employee and employer contributions in an amount and manner determined by the SDCERS Board to make the Retirement System whole for such time. In addition, eligible members retiring on or after January 1, 1997, may purchase probationary periods, Military and Veterans Code leaves, waiting periods for the 1981 Pension Plan, actual time worked hourly or part-time, SLOWP occurring prior to January 1, 1997, the difference in time between part time and full-time prior to January 1, 1997, LTD, Vocational Rehabilitation Maintenance and Temporary Total Disability, FMLA periods, special leaves of absence with job to be saved periods, and any period preceding reinstatement by the Civil Service Commission following a termination appeal.
c. DROP is established effective April 1, 1997. DROP provides an alternative form of benefit accrual while allowing an eligible Member to continue working for City. During the DROP period, a DROP participant retains all rights, privileges and benefits of being an active City employee, except as specifically modified in Chapter 2, Article 4, Division 14 of the Municipal Code, and is subject to the same terms and conditions of employment including disciplinary actions up to and including termination. The Member continues to be eligible for the active employee Flex Benefits Plan for the classification and is not eligible for “Retiree” Health Benefits until such time as the Member completes or terminates the DROP period. Under DROP, a monthly service retirement allowance along with any COLA increases, Supplemental Benefit checks and any adjustments to such payments applicable to retirements effective on the date the Member entered DROP, are credited to the Member’s DROP Account in the SDCERS Trust Fund. These SDCERS benefits are calculated as if the Member were retiring on the date the Member enters the DROP. The Member’s contributions to the Retirement System cease. The Member and City each contribute 3.05% of the Member’s Base Compensation, as defined in Municipal Code section 24.0103, each pay period that the Member participates in the DROP. The Member’s contribution is made on a pre- tax basis pursuant ...
1997 Benefit Changes. The following paragraph E.1. is provided solely for historical purposes and has no effect. City and POA, having met and conferred, have agreed to benefit improvements to San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS). The City Council has approved these changes by adoption of Ordinance No. O-18383 Adopted on February 25, 1997, and Ordinance No. O-18392 on March 31, 1997; subsequently the improvements were approved by a majority vote of System Members in April 1997. Those changes include the following:
1. Effective August 1, 1997, a Retiree Health Benefit is established for eligible retirees. A Health Eligible Retiree is any retired Member who: (1) was on the active payroll of City on or after October 5, 1980; (2) retired on or after October 6, 1980 but before April 1, 2012, and (3) is eligible for and is receiving a retirement allowance from the Retirement System.
a. Health Eligible Retirees may choose to participate in a City-sponsored health insurance plan or any other health insurance plan of their choice. The Retirement System will pay or reimburse the applicable Medicare-eligible or non-Medicare eligible retiree-only premium up to but not to exceed the cost of the retiree-only premium for the highest cost HMO plan which is also a City sponsored health insurance plan made available to Health Eligible Retirees.
b. Additionally, the Retirement System will reimburse the Part B Supplemental Medical Expense Premium for those Health Eligible Retirees enrolled in Medicare.
c. City agrees that it will not diminish the benefits contained in its current retiree HMO plans without mutual agreement with the exclusive bargaining representatives; nor convert to a blended premium for active employees and retirees without mutual agreement with the exclusive bargaining representatives.
2. The Disability Income Offset provision is eliminated. There will be no reduction of retirement benefits if the retiree has other income.
3. A five-year purchase of service credit provision is established effective January 1, 1997 for employees hired before July 1, 2005. Under this provision, the eligible Member may purchase up to five years of service credit by paying both employee and employer contributions in an amount and manner determined by the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System Board to make the System whole for such time. In addition,
1997 Benefit Changes
